Always and Forever a Family

Sunday, August 25, 2013

We're Adding to Our Family!

Nope, not pregnant.

Sorry, Mom...I know you want more grandbabies, but not now!

But we did decide Malehloa needs a big brother, and with a couple clicks of a button, she now has her brother!

Meet Cristian...the newest family member in the Rucker household!

We think he's precious!

He is 4, almost 5 years old.

His birthday is November 11, 2008 (which means we need to get a birthday gift in the mail soon!)

This is what World Vision says about him:

"Cristian Samuel lives with his parents and has no brothers or sisters. His parents struggle to provide for the family. His father is a farm laborer. Despite their efforts it is difficult to meet the family's needs.

Cristian Samuel is growing up in a poor village in the Latin American country of El Salvador. Depending on what's available, home construction there varies from brick to bamboo and mud. Roofs are often made of sheet metal or tile. Families survive mostly on corn, beans and rice and they can rarely afford meat. The rocky, mountainous desert region is hot, while the climate in the lowlands is more moderate. Cristian Samuel is not in school at this time. He likes to play with toys. He helps at home by being good. He is in satisfactory health.

Your sponsorship commitment will help provide Cristian Samuel and his community with access to clean water, education for children and improved school environments. Disease prevention is being taught to parents. Your loving support will provide agricultural training to families to help ensure better crops. As you become involved, you will provide your child and others with a future of hope. Through Bible study, these precious families will learn about God's love and grace."

El Salvador Flag

El Salvador's Map

Facts about El Salvador:

Land area: 8,000 sq mi (20,720 sq km); total area: 8,124 sq mi (21,040 sq km)

Population (2012 est.): 6,090,646 (growth rate: 0.3%); birth rate: 17.44/1000; infant mortality rate: 19.66/1000; life expectancy: 73.69; density per sq km: 341

Capital and largest city (2009 est.): San Salvador, 1,534,000

Other large cities: Santa Ana, 167,200; San Miguel, 145,100; Zacatecoluca, 36,700

Monetary units: Colón; U.S. dollar

National name: República de El Salvador

Languages: Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians)

Ethnicity/race: mestizo 90%, white 9%, Amerindian 1%

National Holiday: Independence Day, September 15

Religions: Catholics 83%; growing population of evangelical Protestants (1992)

Literacy rate: 81.1% (2011 est.)

We think Cristian is absolutely precious and can't wait to get more letters and info from him!!

TMM: Our First Budget and Finance Meeting.

Today was our first budget and finance meeting as a family.

It was not horrible.

But also, not so fun.

At least now we can say "We are telling our money where to go instead of wondering where it went."

Exciting news to come...Stay tuned!

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Total Money Makeover Update: The Road Ahead

If you’d ask, I’d truly say that Chad and I are compatible.

But compatible doesn’t mean that we agree on everything.

As we continue reading the TMM book, we disagree.

Not on everything, but on a few.

Last chapter made the point that a lot of money issues stem from heart issues.

Do we buy things we can’t afford because we want people to think we’re “cool”? Because we think we “deserve” the best? Because we “have to”?

In examining that part of our lives, I think we are option C.

The biggest portion of our debt is student loan debt.

I don’t think either of us realized how quickly that adds up. And how while we called it “necessary”, there are things we could have done to combat it.

Either way, we have money to pay off.

And we do agree on that.

Which brought us to the next chapter: Baby Steps.

“Baby Steps” , which he refers to as the small steps you take to win the debt battle start with saving an emergency fund.

That step we already had done, because we believe that “Murphy” has a good chance of showing up in the form of a car repair, or a replacement washer. Or something like that.

(If you don't know who Murphy is, look him up. But my guess is that you have already met him at some point in your life!)

The second is to use the “debt snowball” to pay off debt.

You use the worksheet, list your debts smallest to largest, and one by one pay them off while remaining current on the bigger ones.

You also put any extra money found in the monthly budget into paying it off.

Once that is done, you move the money you were paying on the smaller one into the next biggest to pay that off…etc.

The idea is that the little victories keep you going, and make you feel like you're making a dent in it.

I know I need that to not get discouraged.

Chad sees the bigger picture and doesn't need that as much, but he's sacrificing his wants to work with me.

(He's pretty cool like that!)

Listing out each individual student loan was no cake walk. Ugh.

We hate owing people money.

But then again that’s why we’re on this journey!

I think we’re starting to get a little excited, but it’s going to be a long road.

Remind me of this excitement when I really want to go shoe shopping, okay?

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Family Rams Game

Dad was given tickets, so Mom, Dad, Chad, Landon, Emmett, Tyson, Lindsay, and I were able to go to the Rams v. Packers game.

We had a blast and Jenna and Josh totally missed out!